Having looked very briefly at the Holy Spirit in the Bible, let us now turn specifically to Jesus’ teaching on the Paraclete in John ch. 14-16. The passages in question are 14,16-17; 14,26; 15,26; 16,7-15. Some important points follow below: ANOTHER COUNSELLOR – ANOTHER HELPER “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth”. (John 14,16) Up until this time Jesus has been there to answer…
THE THIRD PERSON OF THE TRINITY Ask any Christian about Jesus Christ, and you will get a full answer. Likewise, if you ask about God the Father! However, ask about the Holy Spirit, and many will be hard pressed to explain much; let alone witness to any experience of his presence in their lives – though he is most certainly there! This should not be! A careful reading of the Acts of the Apostles and the letters, reveals what a…
NOW FOLLOWING ON! In my last blog I sought to show how Jesus’ life of humility, obedience and dependency on the Father could be seen as a paradigm, an example for how we should seek to live our own lives of faith. I want to pick up on one of the points I made there, and elaborate on it somewhat. That point is that in Jesus, like Jesus, we should make the Father our source for all things! MANY GODS…
WHAT IS A PARADIGM? Anyone who has studied a language, has been taught to conjugate verbs, set out for us in columns to be learnt by heart – paradigms, these tables are called. The word comes from two Greek words παρά/para meaning beside, and δεικνυμι/deiknymi, to show, A paradigm is the setting forth of examples side by side – a pattern if you like, to follow! WE LEARN BY EXAMPLE The idea of an example, is a powerful one. Many…
THE FATHER DESIRES OUR WORSHIP “But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”” (Jesus)John 4:23-24 I was praying the other day when the Lord impressed on me the need to worship him! In John chapter 4, Jesus meets the woman from Samaria….
THE BEGINNING I became a Christian on December 2nd, 1974. I was a first year student at Durham University in the UK. The experience of coming to faith – the realisation that God was real, completely overwhelmed me. I simply had to tell everyone I met what had happened to me. This included of course my family, but also student friends and lecturers at the University. I was probably not the easiest to have a normal conversation with at that…
One of the reasons I love John´s Gospel is for its imagery. Spiritual truth is conveyed through familiar everyday images that are close to us all. Images that denote life, growth, family etc. “Unless your are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God”, says Jesus to Nicodemus (3,3). Well, we all know what it is to be born. “The wind blows where it wills, you hear the sound of it. You do not know where it comes from,…
Note 2, 2021 Last year I wrote a number of blogs concentrating on central themes in the letters of Paul. I want now to write blogs on John’s gospel, touching also on the 1.st letter of John. PAUL Paul’s letters are situational documents in the sense that they are written amid the pastoral pressures of his evangelistic work. Except for 1&2 Timothy, Titus and Philemon, they are written to specific churches, to answer questions that arose in the various missionary…
The Scripture tells us to: Cast all our cares upon him! (1 Peter 5,7) To be in a state of worry is to walk around acknowledging the circumstance causing your worry to be greater than him we worship as Lord! That is a form of idolatry. Most of us do worry – and worry too much! That there is a clear command to us in Scripture not to worry (e.g. Mt. 6,25-34, Phil. 4,6) needs to encourage us to believe…
Originally posted on April 12th 2020 This is the second post I have written this Easter on living the Christian life, the first being “Walk Before Me and be Thou Perfect” (of 4 days ago). The two should be read together as they compliment each other! The former is concerned with the principle governing the Christian life. The present post is concerned with the power to live the Christian life; it will have its focus on the Easter message! The…
Originally posted on April 11th 2020 From John chapter 16 22 So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you. 23 In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly , truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. 24 Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask,…
Originally posted on April 10th 2020 28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.” 29 A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. 30 When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished”, and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. Jn. 19,28-30 Jesus having completed all the work he was sent into the world to do…